Capacitism: discrimination against functional diversity

There is increasing awareness about the different types of discrimination that certain groups and minorities must face in their day-to-day lives. For example, racism and machismo are examples of ways of thinking that are reflected in unequal treatment of certain people for being who they are.

But there are other concepts that refer to the ways in which discrimination is currently made. For example, that of capacitism, referring to the unequal treatment received by people with functional diversity, often stigmatized and treated from prejudices for being considered disabled.

• You may be interested: "The 16 types of discrimination (and their causes)"

What is capacitism?

Capacitism is that form of ideological and material discrimination that is directed against people who are considered disabled. That is, capacitism refers to prejudices and stereotypes that lead to disparage people with functional diversity, but It is also reflected in laws and material structures (architectural, urban, etc.) that pose a barrier for this group.

That is to say, that capacitism it is both ideological and institutional, because it is expressed through thoughts but also through fixed and legitimized designs and forms of organization.

The paradigm of functional diversity

The idea of ​​empowerment arises from a new perspective that addresses the way in which people considered disabled are socially and politically welcomed. This new paradigm is based on the concept of functional diversity, which is used as a substitute for that of "disability".

And what is functional diversity? It is an idea used to avoid stigmatization of disabled people. These, instead of being seen as human beings "broken", incomplete or, ultimately, "wrong bodies", are considered representatives of another class of functionality, neither better nor worse than what had been considered "normal" (which, from the perspective of functional diversity, is no longer considered as such).

In this way, capacistism points out as a fundamental problem the generalized assumption of the idea that people with functional diversity are a deviation from normality and, at the same time, do not have the same rights as other beings humans.

Capacitism and the halo effect

One of the psychological phenomena that explain how capacitism works is the halo effect.

The halo effect is a tendency to value people based on one of their characteristics and extending to the whole of his person the value judgment that has been carried out on that initial trait.

This is why, for example, a person who places great importance on stereotypes linked to politics may come to neatly value a behavior in a person dressed in a certain way (for example, with dreadlocks) and, instead, positively value that same behavior in another individual dressed differently.

The halo effect hijacks our ability to reasonably and comprehensively assess the different nuances and characteristics of a person, and it makes us simply extend our opinion about a specific characteristic that has caught our attention to the whole. Furthermore, there are indications that the halo effect could be present in most humans.

In this way, people with functional diversity are labeled by their biological characteristics and their point of view is minimized or considered an emanation of their condition as disabled individuals. Capacitism is reflected in part from the pigeonhole: whatever is done, that will be interpreted as a direct consequence of being disabled, which makes the humanity of these less visible persons. And this, of course, has a very negative effect on the esteem of many.

• Related article: "What is the Halo Effect?"

How to create a more inclusive society

To curb empowerment, mental health professionals from all walks of life (including clinical psychology) emphasize the need to not attributing all the problems of a disabled person to their individuality, as if it were a painful experience that must be carried in silence. As an alternative, a bio-psycho-social approach is proposed that takes into account the importance of context.

For example, tetraplegia does not create as many problems if society adapts to it by creating access for wheelchairs and avoiding architectural barriers. At times, the concept of disability can be used as an excuse to bring private and individual issues to be addressed collectively.

Thus, care for disabled people does not consist only of treatments focused on the individual, but also in educating socially and working in a network so that the context also adapts to the individual, and not only to the reverse. Eliminate capacitism supposes a change of awareness and also coordinated action of various people who intend to change the institutions in the public and in the private.